In many electronic devices, such as light emitting diodes (“LED”) and LED displays, there is a need for electrically conductive, transparent electrodes. Typically, glasses or plastic sheets vapor-deposited with metal oxides have been employed for these electrically conductive, transparent electrodes. In particular, materials vapor-deposited or sputtered with indium tin oxide (ITO) have good properties. However, the production of such electrically conductive, transparent electrodes by sputtering under vacuum is very costly.
As a result, less costly alternatives have been proposed for electrically conductive, transparent electrodes. For instance, the production of conductive coatings based on organic conductive materials has been investigated. Conductive coatings based on mixtures of neutral polythiophenes and organic compounds containing dihydroxy or polyhydroxy and/or carboxyl groups or amide groups or lactam groups have been previously disclosed. In certain applications, these conductive coatings may be satisfactory; however, these conductive coatings may not have sufficient optical clarity or conductivity for certain applications, such as organic light emitting devices, and may be difficult to apply to a substrate.
Thus, there is a continuing need for organic conductive coatings that provide a cost advantage over materials vapor-deposited with metal oxides and that have improved optical and electrical properties compared to known organic conductive coatings.